New district manager Domingo Lopez elevates to position after 5 years working as grounds supervisor
VISALIA – Domingo Lopez, former grounds supervisor for the Visalia Cemetery District, has managed to climb the ranks to district manager. His experience with the district has helped him maintain the heart of the cemetery by prioritizing its historical significance.
The Visalia Public Cemetery recently hired Lopez as their new district manager in April. Lopez has years of experience serving the public at the cemetery, and he is using that knowledge to maintain the historic space where people can visit loved ones in peace. Domingo started working at the cemetery in 2018 as the grounds supervisor.
“It’s a whole different side of the operation. You know when you’re from the grounds, you’re dealing directly with burial services, the maintenance of the grounds, you’re dealing with a lot of your vendors, suppliers,” Lopez said. “Now in office, it’s more dealing directly with a lot of the laws. Now, dealing with board members, and having a direction, it takes you to different sides of the business.”
The cemetery works with all the mortuaries in the area in hopes of making the process of losing loved ones as easy as possible for Visalia locals. Lopez explained the importance of what the cemetery does for local community members.
“So, it’s just guidance of the families. It’s just nice to know that the families have a place to come to have some support,” Lopez said.
The Visalia Public Cemetery has been serving the public since the 1800s and is still working to help locals while preserving the historic grounds that people have been visiting their loved ones for so long.
“One of our historians that we have on site has taken us on several tours, and then he continues to give tours throughout the grounds, whenever somebody comes into town is interested,” Lopez said. “But the history that we have here, it’s amazing.”
One of the historic parts of the cemetery is the chapel which was recently refurbished.
“It’s one of the oldest chapels of course, in the city of Visalia. Because it dates way back into the 1800s when it was first built on our grounds,” Tom Link, trustee of Visalia Public Cemetery, said. “We have brand new chairs in there, brand new paint and flooring. So those are all things that we have recently done to bring our chapel up to current conditions.”
The Visalia Public Cemetery is holding the ribbon cutting ceremony for the refurbished chapel on May 12 at 4 pm. For more information about the cemetery call 559-734-6181 or visit www.visaliacem.org
